[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 58274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22905]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6639; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041361; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. 
D.B.A. Newfields, Indianapolis, IN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. 
Newfields intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the 
definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after January 15, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the 
cultural items in this notice to Jennifer Gallatin Rigsby, Indianapolis 
Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, 
IN 46208-3326, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields, and additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of 19 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The 19 objects of cultural patrimony are six abalone pendants and 13 
projectile points. The six abalone pendants were taken from a burial 
mound on the Sacramento River near Sacramento, California, by C.P. 
Smith of Sacramento prior to 1900. From Mr. Smith it passed to C.W. 
Fair of Davenport, Iowa from whom Earl Townsend Jr. obtained it on July 
16, 1954. Earl Townsend Jr. gave the pendants to the John Herron Art 
Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1962. 
The 13 projectile points are all from California and were purchased in 
San Francisco in 1928 by Dr. Byron W. Marshall of Nashville, Indiana 
and were in the Brown County, Indian Museum until 1951 when Earl 
Townsend Jr. purchased the museum. Earl Townsend Jr. gave the pendants 
to the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at 
Newfields, in 1964.

Determinations

    The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields has 
determined that:
     The 19 objects of cultural patrimony described in this 
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance 
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other 
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of 
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a connection between the cultural items described 
in this notice and the Wilton Rancheria, California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be 
submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after January 15, 2026. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. 
Newfields must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The 
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields is responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting 
parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: November 19, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-22905 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
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